Dogs have amazing noses, allowing them to perceive the environment in a way we would struggle to even imagine. Dogs love to use their noses, they become engrossed in their world of smells, and it is awe-inspiring to watch a dog work a track, or follow some faint odour of interest all the way back to its source. Dogs communicate through scent, they recognise by scent, and they glean information about emotions, health and even the passing of time through scent.
Harnessing your dog’s enthusiasm to work with you, by working with his natural behaviour, can be a game-changer for both you and your dog. Since teaching nosework I have seen ‘low-drive’, take-it-or-leave-it kinds of dogs turn into engaged, enthusiastic partners with their handlers; I’ve seen shy dogs increase in confidence, and anxious, overly-aroused dogs become calm and focussed when the search starts. We have been able to take dogs who are normally highly distracted by the environment to search farm machinery parked in fields, with no loss of focus on the task in hand – these are dogs that would normally be headed across a field with their nose glued to the ground.
So, what is going on in nosework … why are we seeing these quite remarkable changes? Below I outline some of the factors that may be responsible for the amazingly positive effect nosework can have on dogs.
The first thing to consider is the way that nosework is taught. Nosework can be taught in several different ways, but my preferred approach involves pairing tasty food with a target scent. This is a process called Classical Conditioning. The definition of Classical Conditioning is “a learning process by which a subject comes to respond in a specific way to a previously neutral stimulus after the subject repeatedly encounters the neutral stimulus together with another stimulus that already elicits the response”. For the dog, the target scent (the neutral stimulus) becomes strongly associated with eating delicious food, and the subsequent feelings of pleasure. In short, the dog develops a positive Conditioned Emotional Response to the whole activity of searching and finding the target scent. Of course, operant conditioning is also at play, as the dog is rewarded by the handler when she finds the hide. In addition, the dog is allowed to express a natural and intrinsically highly rewarding behaviour (sniffing and searching, or engaging the hunt drive) in a way that does not cause his owner concern or lead the dog into danger. This leaves the dog feeling tired and mentally satisfied. A win-win for both dog and owner.
The second important factor is anatomy, and the way the brain processes scent. Think for a moment
about how certain memories and feelings can be triggered simply by scent – even for humans. We all
have particular scents that evoke strong feelings – both good and bad. Imagine how much more
powerful that may be for a dog, with their vastly more sensitive smelling apparatus … estimated to be
between 10,000 and 100,000 times stronger than a human’s, allowing them to
access a wonderfully vivid and stinky world.
When a scent is detected in that first sniff (and they can sniff six times a second) scent molecules are carried by olfactory receptors to the olfactory bulb, which starts inside the nose, and is directly connected to two brain areas strongly implicated in memory (the hippocampus) and emotion (the amygdala). Visual, auditory and tactile information does not pass through this brain area; this direct connection for scent may give dogs a very instant and visceral way to process their world, and connect to the memories and emotions that are triggered by the smells they are taking in.
If we combine these factors, a classically conditioned emotional response to a stimulus that is processed at a very visceral, emotional level, with a legitimate outlet for a dog’s instinctive behaviour, we can begin to see what a powerful, positive experience nosework can be for dogs.
There is a final factor that I think makes nosework (including tracking, as well as searching) particularly enjoyable for dogs and owners … it’s really the only training activity where the dog is the expert and ‘leads the dance’. We cannot experience their world of smells, and we have to trust them totally to do the job we want. We cannot teach them to use their noses, the already do that brilliantly; we can only create learning experiences for our dogs that channel their amazing ability to accomplish the tasks we set them.
References:
Dr John Bradshaw - The dog’s noses (and how it uses them)
Julie Bedford – How to incorporate nosework into behaviour modification programmes
(Both taken from APBC notes 2012 conference)
Jordan Gaines Lewis PhD - Psychology Today – Smells Ring Bells
Alexandra Horowitz – How do dogs see with their noses
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-dogs-see-with-their-noses-alexandra-horowitz
WHAT THE
NOSE KNOWS
how nosework can transform your relationship
with your dog!
by Theresa Toomey
